Combined can feeder, drainer, and siruper



y 21, 1929- A. RrTHoMPso N 1,714,146

COMBINED QAN FEEDER, DRAINER, AND SIRUPER Filed June 5, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR.

ATTORNEYS.

May 21, 1929. A. R. THOMPSON 1,714,146

COMBINED CAN FEEDER,DRAINER, AND SIRUPER Filed June 5, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN VEN TOR.

ATTORNEYS.

Patented May 21, 1929.

IIUNIITEDISTATES PATENTIOFFICE. i;

ALBERT It. THOMPSON, OF SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA AS SIGNOR- T ANDERSON-BARN- GROVER MIG. 00., OF SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA, A CORPORATION OF CALIFORNIA.

comn'rivnn can FEEDER,

Application filed June 5.

Y My invention relates to improvements in finally, that the cans be initially that combined can feeder, drainer and siruper for which I have applied for a patent under Serial Number 206,492, filed July 18th, 1927, the nature of whichwill be herein againdisclosed in so far as may be necessary to a full understanding of the improved machine which forms the subject of the present application.

In the canning art there is a stage which comprises suppl ing the cans with'the relatively solid wasfied product; draining from them the surplus moisture, and filling them with sirup.v The machines commonly employed in carrying out this period of operation are a can-feeder; a can-drainer supplied by the feeder, which said drainer inverts and reverts the cans; and a siruper to which the drained cans are supplied. These devices heretofore have been virtually more-or less separate" machines, their assemblage in line being usually due to a traveling belt conveyer, which, traversing the plane of rotation of the drainer, yields its cans'successivel'y to the rotating propeller of the drainer, and successively receives them again and delivers them to the siruper.

As all these machines and devices in the line are in motion, and exercise their several functions upon a rapid-traveling continuous can-procession, it is of'pri'me importance that their motions be accurately coordinated in point of time, in order to insure the continuity of the procession; also, that the path of the cans shall be smooth, without danger of interruption or interference of any kind, thus avoiding jarring and wear and tear; and, supplied to the feeder in a crowd of relative y large numbers, with the least labor, and thereafter automatically reduced to a procession file, and taken care of without the interference of any manual effort. p

To secure theseresults is the object of the combined machine forming the subject of my previous application above referred to, to which end there is provided in a unitary organized apparatus,the essential elements intimately related, of a feeder, drainer and siruper.

For the feeder, in general, I may refer to the type shown in my Patent No. 1,512,652, dated October 21st, 1924.

DR InERQAND SIRIIPER.

192s. Seria1'No.2 83,104, I

For the drainer, reference may be had to my Patent No. 1,397,155, dated November 15th,1921. a

The siruper may be seen inthe type of my Patent N 0. 1,355,015, dated October 5th, 1920.

It now appears from practical experience that a combined machine such as aboveindicated, -Wl11l6 acceptable to'canners in substitution for their previous line of'separate devices, can be improved and made even more" desirable by providing for certain contingencies or variations in its use, which, by addmg to its'operative possibilities, will materially increase its value. The contingencies I have in mind and which have led to and constitute the present invention are, first, the

side-tracking or by-passing ofthe drainer element of the combinatiom'so that such commodities as do not need draining, may 'be passed direct from the feeder to the siruper; l

or second, the cutting out of the siruper when products are being canned without sirup ;'or third, cutting out both drainer and siruper for products requirin the use of neither.

The purpose of my present invention is, therefore, to place in the hands of canners a combined feeder, drainer and siruper which is adapted to meet the foregoing requirements as they arise; and to'this end my invention may be briefly stated to consist in. an organized instrumentality comprising intimately related members having feeding, draining and siruping functions, said machine being provided with means for by-passing or cutboth, from the pathof the cans.

In the accompanying drawings I have shown my improved combined feeder, drainer and siruper in its preferred form, though it must be understood that changes in detail may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined in the claims hereunto appended. V

In the drawings Fig.1 is a top plan View of my machine.

Fig. 2 is a plan view below the top, in the plane of'the can path.

Fig. 3 is a sectional detail of certain gearing on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

. The combined machine comprises the feeder A, the drainer B, and the siruper C. These are herein illustrated in sufiicient detail to convey afull disclosure of the present tingout, at will, the drainer or the siruper or ill) and then describe the changes and improve ments of the present case.

lVith regard to the feeder A, 1 1s a hor1- zontal table rotatable about its axis 2 and said flange a passageway 60, the width of which is such that the cans 9 which enter said passageway, are 1n single file, as lndlcated in Fig. 1.

The approach to the file-reducing passageway is guarded by a gate 11 carricdan the dotted line position by a bracket 12, said gate having a spring hinge connection 13 adapting it to yield forwardly.

When the table 1 is rotated in the direction contra-clockwise, as shown by the dotted arrow in Figs. 1 and 2, the cans placed upon the platform 4 and thence slid upright in a promiscuous crowd, are carried forward. As they pass the gate 11 some of them are crowded outwardly, and these meeting with the point or cusp of selecting arm portion 7 or with a guiding extension plate 7 thereof, are swept outwardly and enter the passageway 60 in single file, while the other cans pass inside said portion and are carried around on the table to join the infeeding crowd, for another try to get into file.

lVith regard to the drainer B, suitable frame members carry an annular vertically disposed housing 15 overlying a portion of the table and having at its lower part an entrance 15 on one side and an exit 15 on the other side, as seen in Fig. 2.

In drainers of the type here indicated by the vertically disposed housing, there is within said housing a rotating propeller which receives the cans admitted through the housing-entrance, and by its rotation inverts the cans and reverts them so that they may pass out through the housing exit, upright, having been drained during their inversion.

I have not deemed it necessary to indicate the propeller nor any of the interior details of the drainer save the angularly disposed directing cleat 23, Fig. 2, which separates the drainer entrance from its exit, because these form no part of my present improvements and are, moreover, well known in the art.

The communication between the feeder table passageway 60 and the drainer includes a timing screw 21. Y

lVith regard to the siruper C, I have shown a shell 2 1 and its can holders 25. The communication between the drainer and the siruper comprises a stationary table 26, Fig. 1, in close relation to and receiving the cans from the drainer exit or discharge; a star-disk 28 mounted for rotation above the table 26; a rotatable turret 29, and a presser finger 30. The cans issuing from the exit of the drainer pass directly to and upon thetable 26', and are engaged by the star-disk 28. and carried around into theholders of the siruper. The presser finger 30 and the turret 29 function to true the cans in the holders. 34 is a stripper to eject the cans from the siruper. 35 is a rotating discharge table to which the stripper directs the cans from the siruper.

What may be termed the normal operation of thecombined machine, that is, when it functions with all three major elements, the feeder, drainer and siruper, may be briefly described in terms similar to the explanation in my pending application, as follows "The unsealed cans, previously supplied with the washed solid product, are brought in trays to the platform 41, and by the attendant are placed upright upon the table 1 in a crowd, withoutregard to order. The table, rotating, carries the crowd forward past the gate 11, to the file selecting arm portion 7, the point of which forms the outermost cans, pushed outward by the gate, into afile, the other cans being returned along the inner face of the arm 7 to oin the infeeding crowd. The fileof cans advancing, istimely directed to and through the drainer entrance; and its individuals are successively taken up by the drainer propeller, and carried through a circular path during which they are inverted and drained of surplus moisture, and reverted below, so that when each arrives at the exit it is again upright and passes out to and upon the table 26. From the table 26, the cans are swept oif by the star-disk 28 into the canholders 25' of thesirnp'er 24, and are trued in said holders by the finger 30 and turret 29. Power is led into the machine through the siruper, which is geared to a gear 50, Fig. 2, which rotates the star-disk 28. From this standisk motion is transmitted through shaft 32, Fig. 1, to a gear train in a housing 38', to operate the timing screw 21.

It may now be stated that my present improvements begin at this point.

In the operation of the machine as thus far described, the feed table 1 rotates contraclockwise. which motion is due to the siruper rotating clockwise, and transmitting motion vlit) through the gears 50, 51, 52, and 53 .to the gear 3 of the table. See dot-ted lines in Fig. 2.

If, now, the occasion should arise for dispcnsing with the function of the drainer, the machine is adapted for this end as follows.

The crescent shaped can-selecting arm which has heretofore been referred to in terms of one of its end portions 7 only, but which is now to be distinguished as a whole by the addition of an opposite end portion 7 -'having an extension plate 7, it will be seen, overlies an extent of arc of the table 1 sufficient to position said added end 7 relatively to the drainer housing 15 to form a can-passageway 60 between its outer face and a fixed guard flange 5, extending from the platform 4 and overlying the table rim for a length of arc sufiicient to extend said passageway back of the drainer housing clear of the latters exit, and direct to the star-disk 28; a timing screw 21 being fitted to operate in the terminal of the passageway, to enter'the cans accurately in the star-dis It will now be seen that if the direction of rotation of the feed table 1 be reversed, as shown by the full arrows, from contraclockwise to clockwise, the disorderly crowd of cans may have an orderly file moving in said passageway 60 and entered directly by i the timing screw 21 into the star-disk 28, thus by-passing or cutting out the drainer.

In this connection, however, there are certain substitutions or changes which must be noted.

First, the yielding gate 11, Fig. 1, which serves to induce the formation ofan orderly file must be reversed in its movement to conform to the reversal of rotative direction of the table 1, and the direction of travelof the cans under said reversal. To provide for this, there are two pivotal control studs 11 and 11 on the bracket 12, upon either of which, according to the desired direction of yielding, the gate 11 may be mounted, the spring connection 13 being suitably reversed. This change I have indicated in Fig. 1 by showing the gate 11 in full lines. Thus when the direction of rotation is reversed, as indicated by the full line arrow, and the gate 11 is moved to its other, or full line position, the cans will be affected by said gate to enter a file of them in the bypass path 60.

Second, in order to clear this by-pass 60 and insure the cans safely moving by the exit of the drainer without tending to slip into .it, the discharge guide 54, shown in dotted lines, which normally directs the cans from the drainer exit to the star-disk 28 when the drainer is used, is removed, and a guidev55 is substituted, as shown by the full lines.

Third. In order to reverse the direction of rotation of the table 1, the intermediate gears 52 and 53 are removed from their studs and there is substituted for them a single large gear 56.

In case the occasion should: arise to require theouse of the feeder and drainer only,

the cutting out or by-passing of the siruper is made possible, by the removal of the stripper 34 which normally ejects the cans fromthe siruper holders 25, and the substitution of a finger 57 which, extending into the path of the cans while in the star-disk 28, ejects'them directly from said disk to and upon the discharge table 35. V

Finally, in the event of both drainer and siruper being not required, the cans may be reduced from a crowd to an orderly file upon the feed table 1, by the end portion 7 of the selecting member when the table is rotating clockwise, and said file advanced through the passageway 60 between saidportion 7 and the guard flange 5, and timed by the screw 21, to the star-disk 28 and thence, stripped from said disk b the finger 57 they pass to the discharge ta 1e 35.

The timing screw 21' is driven from the.

siruper through bevel gears 58, a shaft 58 and a chain of shafting and gearing indicated generally by 59, in Fig. 3.

J I claim i 1. A canning machine for thedescribed purpose comprising a combined feeder, drainer, and siruper; means for passing the cans from the feeder to the drainer; means for passing the cans from the drainer to the siruper; and means for cutting out the drainer, from the path of the cans.

2. A canning machine for the described purpose comprising a combined feeder, drainer, and siruper; means for passing the cans from the feeder to the drainer; means for passing the cans from the drainer to the siruper; and means for cutting out the siruper from the path of the cans.

3. A canning machine for the described purpose comprising a combined feeder,

drainer, and siruper; means for passing the cans from the feeder to the drainer; means for passing the cans from the drainer to the siruper; means for cutting out the drainer from the path of the cans; and other means for cutting out the siruper from said path.

1. A canning machinefor the described purpose comprising a rotatable feeding table, a drainer and a siruper, combined for'the passage of cans in the order named; and means, dependent upon the reversal of the tables rotation, for cutting out the drainer from the path of the cans.

5. A canning machine for the described purpose comprising a drainer; a siruper; a

can transfer means from the drainer to the siruper; a rotatable. feed table; means for changing, at will, the direction of rotation.

rota-table feed tableadjacent-said drainer; means for reversing the direction of rotation of the table; means associated with the table functioning,- When saidtahle is rotating in one direction, to deliverthe cans to the drainer; and other means associated with the table, functioni11g when the table is rotated in the other direction, to conduct the cans in a; path Which by-passes the drainer.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

ALBERT R. THOMPSON. 

